The prototypical EA is a white, straight, and highly educated man. Let’s call him John. John is one of the many success stories of capitalism, technology, and educational attainment. He sees capitalism, technology, and education as forces for positive change. He had some gripes with his education, though; he was bored while fulfilling his gender studies requirement, and was confused when a seminar began with a land acknowledgement.
He attends EA events and frequents EA coworking spaces. There, he discusses forecasting, transhumanism, and AGI with his similar-looking friends. They agree that, if we’re still around in 15 years, we will see accelerating improvements in quality of life across the board. They cautiously accept that global health and animal welfare can be temporarily deprioritized–if we get this right, all persons and animals may one day live maximally pleasant lives aboard spacefaring datacenters. In the interim, lab grown meat will be broadly accepted by the general public, known for their trust in artificial foods and meat matrices grown in sugary vats. Afterwards, it occurs to him that many marvelous medical advances have not spread to most of the developing world. He assures himself that a singleton, trained on written and observed human ethics, will be wise enough to distribute medicines and resources equitably to the permanent underclass.
John invites Mark, a non-EA friend, to a weekly EA meetup. Mark brings his wife Abby, who is running for local office as a Democrat. Mark is impressed by the intelligence of the EAs in attendance, and asks how they feel about present circumstances in American democracy. Another EA suggests that xenophobia and racism have taken hold in America before, providing internment camps and Chinese exclusion as examples, and asserts that things have still turned out fine. In his head, John agrees that we have mostly recovered from those past mistakes; Obama’s reelection, in his view, proves this. Or at least it used to. Satisfied, John does not add his thoughts to the discussion. Before they leave, John gives Mark and Abby a book about the importance of considering future lives and guaranteeing their existence. Abby and Mark thank him, and add that they should meet up again soon. Abby finds the back of the book distasteful and discusses it with Mark on the drive home. At least, she remarks, there is not a fetus on the cover. Mark chuckles. Had he heard the quip, John might’ve chuckled too. He does that when he doesn’t get things. 6 months later, Abby and Mark have not met up with John again.
